REJECTED WITH CHRIST

May 8, Saturday

 

FIFTH WEEK OF EASTER

 

The world that has rejected Christ hates Christ and his disciples; it persecutes them because the lifestyle of a good Christian is a silent condemnation of the world. Think, for example, of the films by Luis Bunuel, the Spanish director, who is obsessed by everything Christian and holds it up to bitter sarcasm.

Perhaps, more deadening than persecution is the attitude of a world that has not discovered Christ or has a distorted view of him and of Christianity. To these people, we are ridiculous, old-fashioned, irrelevant, out of touch with reality, and worthy of a pitying smile.

Yet this was the lot of Christ. We share in his love, and also in the treatment he is given by the world. The disciple is no better than the master. In the disciple, the world still rejects Christ, the Master. At least, we are in good company…

 

First Reading: Acts 16:1-10

Paul came first to Derbe, then Lystra. He found a disciple there by the name of Timothy, son of a devout Jewish mother and Greek father. Friends in Lystra and Iconium all said what a fine young man he was. Paul wanted to recruit him for their mission, but first took him aside and circumcised him so he wouldn’t offend the Jews who lived in those parts. They all knew that his father was Greek.

As they traveled from town to town, they presented the simple guidelines the Jerusalem apostles and leaders had come up with. That turned out to be most helpful. Day after day the congregations became stronger in faith and larger in size.

They went to Phrygia, and then on through the region of Galatia. Their plan was to turn west into Asia province, but the Holy Spirit blocked that route. So they went to Mysia and tried to go north to Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus wouldn’t let them go there either. Proceeding on through Mysia, they went down to the seaport Troas.

That night Paul had a dream: A Macedonian stood on the far shore and called across the sea, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” The dream gave Paul his map. We went to work at once getting things ready to cross over to Macedonia. All the pieces had come together. We knew now for sure that God had called us to preach the good news to the Europeans.

 

Gospel: John 15:18-21

“If you find the godless world is hating you, remember it got its start hating me. If you lived on the world’s terms, the world would love you as one of its own. But since I picked you to live on God’s terms and no longer on the world’s terms, the world is going to hate you.

“When that happens, remember this: Servants don’t get better treatment than their masters. If they beat on me, they will certainly beat on you. If they did what I told them, they will do what you tell them.

“They are going to do all these things to you because of the way they treated me, because they don’t know the One who sent me.

 

Prayer

Lord, our God,
it is good to live in the friendship
of your Son, Jesus Christ.
Make us realize that also in this love,
we are committed to him and share with him
for better and for worse,
in misunderstanding and contradiction
as well as in joy and intimacy.
Help us to rejoice, even when treated
with indifference or ridicule on account of him,
for it means that he is still with us,
who is our Lord forever. Amen.

 

Reflection:

“Where is God? Is he real?”

“If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first.”
Many of us find it extremely difficult to make sense of tragedies and pains in life and often question God. We hear people asking, “Where is God? Is he real?” Pope Francis was asked these questions by a rescued street-girl in the Philippines while narrating the miseries she and her friends had to undergo on the streets. The Pope simply hugged her and answered the whole crowed: “We have no answers to all our questions.”
Before questioning God, let us be reminded of one thing: We are believing in a God who himself underwent the pains and miseries of humankind; was tortured and killed. In today’s Gospel Jesus predicts and warns his disciples that the world would hate and reject them.
It is one thing to know that there will be trials, that we will have crosses to bear for following him; it’s another to be told that we will be hated because of it. In many parts of the world, faith in Jesus has become an object of ridicule and hatred. But why? Is it because Christians promote violence and division? It is on the contrary … The powers of hatred and violence in the world, hates Jesus and and the mission of the Church for sharing the message of love, hope, and our choice for life.
We are called to be imitating the love of Jesus. Yet, we may experience hatred and rejection from others especially when the love and truth goes against the opinions of the world. And many Christians, when confronted with the fear of being persecuted and being taken out of their comfort zones, prefer to live according to the standards of the world.
But today our faith assures us that, despite the troubles, Jesus is worth the effort. We cannot expect the applause from a world that rejected Jesus; we will also be exposed to the rejection that he himself suffered; but we are also assured of the life that Jesus alone can give – a life of the resurrection. That is why the Word of God reassures us “if we die with Him, we will live with Him; if we suffer with Him, we will reign with Him ”.
The message of Christ is not always a comfortable message; it also has to speak of the cross. And we shall not be shy of speaking about it, even in the face of ridicule and contradiction.

 

Video available on Youtube: “Where is God? Is he real?”